LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



ctpit ; Cmm¥ la-.. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



MY PARISH NOTE-BOOK 



COMPILED BY THE 

Rev. WM. JAMES MILLER, A.M. 

Published by THOMAS WHITTAKER, New York. 



MY PARISH NOTE-BOOK 




BY THE y< 

Rev. WM. JAMES MILLER, A.M. 

RECTOR OF ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, HOT SPRINGS, ARK. 



i When found, make a note of" 

DOMBEY AND SON 




New York 
THOMAS WHITTAKER 

2 AND 3 BIBLE HOUSE 



Tbb Library 
op congress 

washington 



Copyright, 1894, 
By THOMAS WHITTAKER. 



LC Control Number 




j oc rm484 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



In an experience of nearly twenty years as edi- 
tor of a Church paper the compiler of this little 
volume had ample opportunity to learn the mind 
of the working Church as reflected in the exchanges 
received from various parishes and dioceses. In 
these exchanges he found so many articles that 
threw light on questions of the day, that illustrated 
the history, usage, and traditions of the Church, 
that were suggestive in its practical work and help- 
ful in bringing out the great value of the Sacra- 
ments, the Prayer-book, and the Christian year, 
he often wished he might see them in a more per- 
manent form. 

Having saved many of these articles for his own 
use and reference, he now brings them together 
and issues them as a handbook of information 
under the title " My Parish Note-Book." He 
has carefully classified them under six heads for 
the greater convenience of the reader. The aim 
has been to select short, pointed articles that may 
be quickly read and yet be productive of thought. 
He trusts that in this form these gleanings from 

iii 



iv 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



many sources may be helpful and suggestive to the 
clergy in their work and to those desiring to know- 
more perfectly this " way of life." The compiler 
believes that there is embodied in these pages the 
living voice of the living Church as it works, prays, 
and prophesies amid the needs and spiritual long- 
ings of the present generation. 

W. J. M. 

Hot Springs, Ark., 
Epiphany, 1.894. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Church 

CHAPTER II. 
The Sacraments 

CHAPTER III. 
The Prayer-book 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Christian Year 

CHAPTER V. 
The Parish — Its Life and Work. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Christian Giving 



THE VALUE OF READING. 



"In spite of o?ninous portents of unbelief the 
awakening of Church life, which is manifest beyond 
all questio7t throughout Great Britain and some 
parts of this county, taking many forms, is felt 
here. Two signs of it are evident. Among church 
people, clergy and laity, I see a livelier sense of 
what the Church is, as a conscious interest in their 
thoughts and habits, and a more vivid idea of what 
can be done for it and done by it. Of coiwse this 
depends chiefly on the personal force of leaders, 
and these are commonly 9 though not invariably, the 
parish clergy. It is due, also, to a CIRCULATION 
OF INTELLIGENCE as to what is actually going on, 
%vhat is contrived, undertaken, builded, organized, 
given, bequeathed in parishes, dioceses, mission- 
fields, on every side. Pro?note this suggestive and 
exemplary reading in every way you can." — BISHOP 
Huntington's Annual Address, 1887. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE CHURCH. 



An organization has existed in the world for 
over eighteen centuries called the Christian Church. 
To this Church was given the Bible, the Sacra- 
ments, the Ministry, and the Creeds. These things 
are the property of the organization to which they 
were given. That organization has the sole right 
to interpret that Bible, administer those Sacra- 
ments, perpetuate that Ministry — the same right 
that the United States Government has to inter- 
pret its own laws, preserve its own rights, perpetu- 
ate its own organization. 

The Church's Birthday. 

The Christian Church was supernaturally begun 
in the upper chamber at Jerusalem on the day of 
Pentecost. The Lord had prepared it a body, in 
the one hundred and twenty who were gathered 
together there awaiting the fulfillment of Christ's 
promise of the Comforter. And as the Holy Spirit 
breathed into Adam's body the breath of life and 



2 



THE CHURCH. 



he became a living soul, so the same Holy Spirit 
came with a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, 
and filled all the house where they were sittings 
and tongues of flame lighted upon each of them 
who sat there, and they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost ; and the Church — the company of 
believers called by Christ, and indwelt by the 
Holy Spirit, the " one Body and one Spirit " — be- 
gan its life, against which the gates of hell should 
not prevail. 

The Meaning of the Word "Church." 

It ought to be known universally among Chris- 
tians that the word the Holy Scripture uses for 
church is ecclesia, from verb ekkaleo, to call out. 
An ecclesia is a body called out. Its use came orig- 
inally from the calling out of Israel from Egypt — 
" out of Egypt have I called my son." This is the 
first use of the word ecclesia. 

The root idea, then, of the Church is a body 
called out from the world, separated from it, and 
set apart to the service of God. 

The idea, therefore, of modern rationalists that 
the Church and all mankind are synonymous terms 
— in other words, that all mankind are in the 
Church by their birth, and that baptism is only 
to declare that fact — is opposed to the very root 
meaning of the word. The Church is not the hu- 



THE CHURCH. 



3 



man family, but a body called out from the human 
family and consecrated to God's service. — The 
Church Chronicle. 

Who Compose the Church. 
The Church of Christ comprehends all properly 
baptized people. There is no way for baptized 
people to join the Church, because they already 
belong to it whether they recognize their privilege 
or not. If they recognize their privilege, they will 
be found in their place at the parish church doing 
all they can to support and carry on its work ; they 
will be confirmed when the bishop comes again, and 
draw near with the faithful to partake of the Holy 
Eucharist. 

What the Church is. 

The Church is the sphere in which God has 
willed to work upon souls ; the Church is the 
sphere in which God has guaranteed to save souls ; 
the Church is the sphere in which God makes good 
His promise. 

It is true that God's grace overflows the Church. 
" In every nation he that feareth Him, and work- 
eth righteousness, is accepted with Him " (Acts 
x. 35) : yet the fact remains that His grace is 
pledged to us only within the circle of the Holy 
Catholic Church. God's grace is not bound, but 
we are bound to seek it where He has promised 



4 



THE CHURCH. 



it — that is, in the Church. There is no guarantee, 
no covenanted security, outside the Church. The 
Church is the circle wherein God chiefly works ; 
to be outside the Church is to be outside that 
circle. — The Young Churchman, 

The Church's Idea. 

The admission of the imperfect and the imma- 
ture, for the purposes of training and building up. 

The Church is not a select and exclusive circle 
of Heaven's favorites, but a broad and inclusive 
net for sweeping in all of every kind. It is not a 
pleasing dream of a sort of a little heaven for mu- 
tual participation of spiritual pleasures, but rather, 
the nobler conception of a vast and perilous field, 
where the tares are mingled with the wheat, where 
Christ's husbandry, Christ's building has to be 
done — and where risks are to be run, dangers 
courted, spiritual lepers taken in to tend and nurse, 
ignorance beckoned that it may be taught, weak- 
ness encouraged that it may be strengthened, child- 
hood smiled upon and warmly welcomed that it 
may be educated, guarded, matured, and rendered 
back at last to Christ— the Good, the Loving, the 
Friend of publicans and sinners, who pleased not 
Himself, and gave us an Example, that we should 
become " fellow- workers with Him." 



THE CHURCH. 



5 



For what the Church Exists. 

The Church exists in the world not to enjoy 
our patronage, to invite our criticism, to gratify 
our taste, but to accept our discipleship. Her or- 
ganized life, the due succession of her ministry, the 
due administration of her sacraments, the stated 
order of her worship, the ceaseless proclamation 
of her Lord's message — all these things are not 
less important, less essential to-day than when in 
the beginning Peter convened the hundred and 
twenty disciples to choose the Apostle Matthias. — 
Bishop H. C. Potter, D.D. 

Historic Christianity. 

In all departments of religious life and thought, 
it is the historic character of Christianity and of 
the Church which is commending itself to men's 
acceptance. In the historic Christianity there is 
liberty and strength. In the historic Church there 
is conservatism and an illimitable faculty of prog- 
ress. Any man who would do great and perma- 
nent service to the Church in these times must be 
possessed of the historical idea. 

The True Church. 

No man can make a new church any more than 
lie can make a new Bible. The old Church was 



6 



THE CHURCH. 



founded by Christ Himself. It was complete at 
the start. It possessed all the means of grace. 
It taught all the necessary truth. It was meant 
to remain unchanged until Christ should come 
again at the last day. The faith was once for all 
delivered to the saints, and was not to be added 
to or diminished. The Church was built upon the 
foundation of the apostles and prophets. Mod- 
ern religious bodies, or so-called Churches, are, in 
reality, only religious societies. They are new,, 
not ancient. They are man-made ; none of them 
date from Pentecost. — The Platte Missionary. 

The Episcopal Church. 

The Episcopal Church exists in America as 
Catholic (not Roman) and Apostolic. While com- 
monly called " Protestant Episcopal," it is never- 
theless, as history shows, the Catholic Church of 
the Creed. 

HER FOUNDATIONS. 

Christ came to this earth to found a Kingdom 
or Church, and He promised that the gates of 
hell should never prevail against this organization, 
which is called His Body and His Bride. 

HER HISTORY. 

The Church was founded in Jerusalem, a.d. 30, 
by Jesus Christ ; was planted in England about 



THE CHURCH. 



7 



a.d. 66, by St. Paul or one of his pupils ; was sub- 
ject to the usurpations of the Bishop of Rome 
from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, then 
thoroughly freed and reformed ; was a mission of 
the Church of England in America until after the 
Revolution, when it became independent and was 
called Protestant Episcopal. Thus it possesses 
authority from Christ Himself, and has continuous 
existence from the days of the Apostles. 

HER MINISTRY. 

In conformity with the uninterrupted usage of 
the Church of Christ for eighteen hundred years 
and the usage of nine tenths of the Christian world 
at the present time, her ministry is threefold, viz. : 

Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 

THE ESSENTIALS, 

or basis of organic unity with the denominations, 
as set forth by the bishops of England and Amer- 
ica, are : 

1. The open Bible. 

2. The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. 

3. The Two Sacraments. 

4. The Historic Episcopate. 

HER HERITAGE. 

1. The Scriptures. 

2. The Book of Common Prayer. 



8 



THE CHURCH. 



3. The Sacraments. 

4. The Apostolic Ministry or Fellowship. 

THE BASIS. 

Of Doctrine : The Creed. 

Of Devotion : The Lord's Prayer. 

Of Obedience : The Ten Commandments. 

THE MOTTO FOR CHURCH REUNION. 

In Essentials : Unity. 

In Non-Essentials : Liberty. 

In all Things : Charity. 

The Church's Possessions. 

The Church offers a common ground of fellow- 
ship to all who " love our Lord Jesus Christ in 
sincerity." She rests her claim to this ministry of 
reconciliation upon the following possessions : 

I. The historical fact that she is the Mother 
Church of the English-speaking race. 

II. Gospel teaching, embodied in a Creed of 
Apostolic origin, so simple that a child can learn 
it, so definite that unbelief cannot overthrow it, so 
comprehensive that nothing essential to the soul's 
health is left unsaid. 

III. A reverent and solemn Worship, free from 
crudities of thought and expression, enriched by 
the devotional experience of the past, and suited 
to the daily wants of the present ; most truly a 



THE CHURCH. 9 

" Common Prayer," since it belongs to minister 
and people alike, and allows the living voice of 
the congregation to be heard. 

IV. A Christian Nurture that cares tenderly for 
the lambs of the flock ; teaches them from the first 
that as baptized children they belong in the Good 
Shepherd's fold ; brings them up to the love and 
reverence of what is holy, pure, and honorable ; 
and aims to make them God-fearing and high- 
minded men and women. 

V. A Christian Year to hallow and bless the 
passing seasons by associating them with the events 
of our Saviour's life on earth, and with the great 
facts of Redemption. This quickens the memory ; 
satisfies the instinctive desire of believers for spe- 
cial seasons of devotion ; gives balance and sym- 
metry to the thoughts; and is a guard against 
narrow and one-sided views of revealed truth. 

VI. Simple and Scriptural terms of admission. 
The practical recognition of the duty of every 
man, woman, and child baptized into the Body 
of Christ to lend a helping hand in the work of 
building up His Kingdom. — Trinity Parish Reg- 
ister *, Fayetteville, Central New York. 

Status of the Episcopal Church. 

We often hear people remark that the Episcopal 
Church is one of the "smaller sects." We have 



I □ 



THE CHURCH. 



already shown that she is not a sect, and if she 
were, statistics show abundantly that she is not a 
ft smaller " one. The English-speaking religious 
communities of the world stand as follows : Episco- 
pal, 25,000,000 ; Methodist, all kinds, 17,000,000 ; 
Roman Catholics, 15,500,000; Presbyterians, all 
kinds, 11,400,000 ; Baptists, all kinds, 8,900,000 ; 
Congregationalists, 5,650,000. 

The names of the founders and date of organi- 
zation of the above Protestant societies are as fol- 
lows, in the order of their inception : 

Presbyterian, by John Knox a.d. 1520-60. 

Congregationalism by Robert Brown. . a.d. 1583. 

Baptist, by Roger Williams a.d. 1639. 

Methodist, by John Wesley a.d. 1784. 

These figures and facts are given not for the 
purpose of criticising our brothers of these socie- 
ties — for under God's providence they have all 
done a great good, which otherwise would not 
have been done, " for he that is not against us is 
for us " — but they are given to show the members 
of the Church how rich a legacy is theirs and how 
appreciative all ought to be, and thankful that 
they are members of the Holy Catholic and Apos- 
tolic body of Christ ; how all ought to take courage 
and life, and do valiant service for the Church. — 
Ascension Church Life. 



THE CHURCH. 



I I 



The Anglican Communion. 

The Anglican Communion embraces all Chris- 
tians in full communion with the Church of Eng- 
land, viz. : 

The Church of England, with its 52 bishops and 
30,000 clergymen. 

The Church of England in Ireland, with its 13 
bishops and 2000 clergymen. 

The Episcopal Church of Scotland, with its 7 
bishops and 366 clergymen. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States, with its 78 bishops and 5000 clergymen. 

The Church of England in Canada, Newfound- 
land, and West Indies, etc., with its 29 bishops and 
1500 clergymen. 

The Church of England in Asia, with its 14 
bishops and 813 clergymen. 

The Church of England in Africa, with its 16 
bishops and 400 clergymen. 

The Church of England in Australia, with its 
21 bishops and 300 clergymen. 

Scattered, 9 bishops and 200 clergymen. 

Bishops resigned, 30. 

Say in round numbers, 259 bishops and 40,000 
clergymen. 

These different branches of the Anglican Com- 
munion are entirely agreed on the three essential 



I 2 



THE CHURCH. 



points : the Faith, the Administration of the Sac- 
raments, and the three Orders of the Ministry. — 

The Gospel Messenger. 

Henry the Eighth. 

Those persons who say that the Church of Eng- 
land originated with Henry VIII. are so ignorant 
of the commonest facts of English history that 
their opinions are not worthy even of contempt. 
The " Magna Charta " is the one document above 
all others in English history with which any scholar 
might be supposed to be acquainted. Among its 
opening words are these : "The Church of England 
shall be free and her liberties unimpaired " (in Lat- 
in). We here see " The Church of England " re- 
ferred to in a state document nearly two hundred 
years before Henry VIII. was bom.— Church 
Bells. 

Rev. J. H. Herron notes that " a nine hundred 
and ninety-nine years' lease of some property made 
by the Church of England to the crown recently 
reverted, by process of law, to its original owner," 
and pertinently asks, If the Church of England 
was founded by Henry VIII., how could she 
" make a lease six hundred years before she had 
an existence " ? 



THE CHURCH. 



] 3 



Why We Call Ourselves " Churchmen. " 

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not when incarnate 
on the earth commit His teachings and embody 
His life-work in a book. He founded a society 
— a Church. The New Testament, written years 
after this Church was founded, and had been 
spread over much of the then accessible world, re- 
veals to us its writers' record of the setting up of 
the kingdom of heaven on earth — the institution 
of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ — and 
gives us notices of its history in the years of its 
first introduction. It does not lay down rules for 
the organization of the Church, but it proceeds on 
the supposition that the Church had existed from 
the start of Christianity, and still existed as Christ 
established it, and will exist to the end of the world 
agreeably to Christ's promise which it records. 
That Church, we believe, has existed from the 
Apostles' time with its Historic Episcopate, with its 
threefold ministry, with its Apostolic Succession — 
"one Holy Catholic Church." We profess our 
belief in that Church in the Creed. We recognize 
that Church as existing throughout Christendom. 
We claim to trace the spiritual lineage of our bish- 
ops and chief pastors through the Christian ages 
and direct to the Apostles of our Lord, and through 
them to the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls 



14 



THE CHURCH. 



Himself. Such is the Church idea. Accepting 
these postulates, we claim, and profess to be, 
Churchmen. 

Preference vs. Principle. 

To the Editor of "The Living Church "/ 

The declaration made by Dr. Shields, of Prince- 
ton, and quoted in The Living Church of Decem- 
ber 9th, that " Protestantism must concede the 
essential relation of the Historic Episcopate to 
unity, if unity was to come at all," reminded me 
of a little story, and a true one : 

A friend of mine, a churchwoman, married a 
Presbyterian. Meeting her a year or so later, I 
ventured to inquire : "How about church attend- 
ance? You go with your husband, I presume? " 
" Oh no, he goes with me," was her reply. " His 
Church, he said, was the Church of his choice. 
But mine, said I, of my principle. ' Preference 
must yield to principle,' said my good man ; and 
he always goes to church with me." 

The story has often recurred to me when I have 
seen how sturdy a fight is made by sectarians for 
things which they at the same time glory in pro- 
claiming are non-essential — matters to be decided 
by the choice of the individual. Why not let 
"preference yield to principle " when the unity of 
Christendom is concerned ? 

Y. Y. K. 



THE CHURCH. 



s 5 



Episcopacy. 

(i No Church without a Bishop " has been a fact 
as well as a maxim since the time of Tertuliian 
and Irenseus ; after we have passed over the diffi- 
culties of the first century, we find the Episcopal 
government universally established, till it was in- 
terrupted by the republican genius of the Swiss 
and German reformers. — Gibbon. 



It is a well-known fact of history that when 
Luther and his adherents left the Church they lost 
the Episcopate, because the bishops refused to 
visit their churches and ordain priests for them. 
The Rev. Dr. Kohler, of Pennsylvania, has written 
a pamphlet of sixty pages entitled, " The Episco- 
pate for the Lutheran Churches," in which he ex- 
amines the testimony of Scriptures and the history 
of the Church from Apostolic times, and concludes 
that there have always been three offices in the 
Church, bishops, priests, and deacons, that the 
original constitution of the Church, as presented 
in the Scriptures, is the Episcopal and not Presby- 
terian. 

Dr. Kohler's summary of the historic facts is 
well and briefly put. It is that " the Apostles em- 
bodied the Episcopal element into the constitution of 
the Church, and from their days to the time of the 



i6 



THE CHURCH. 



Reformation, or for fifteen hundred years, there was 
no other form of Church government anywhere to 
be found. Wheresoever there ivere Christians, there- 
were also bishops ; and often where Christians dif- 
fered in other points of doctiine or custom, and made 
schisms and divisions in the Church, yet did they 
all remai?i unanimous in this, in retaining bishops. 11 

Apostolic Succession. 

A bishop's genealogy is not asked for at every 
turn. It need not be. The fact that he is pub- 
licly, notoriously known to be a bishop, and taken 
and acknowledged as such, in a Church which 
holds Apostolic Succession essential to his being a 
bishop at all, is evidently overwhelming testimony 
that his descent is legitimate, and that all canoni- 
cal and orderly things were done in his case. 

That the judge is on the bench, trying cases, 
accepted and received as a judge, is all the evi- 
dence you ask of his legal commission. He could 
not be there at all unless all things lawful existed 
in his appointment. 

And so it always was. It is merely trifling with 
words if a man knows, and evidence of incompe- 
tency to express an opinion if he does not know, 
to say, " You cannot prove that from any modern 
bishop ; up to the Apostles there is a continuous 
succession of ordainers." You might as well tell 



THE CHURCH. 



me I cannot prove that the oak tree on the lawn 
has an unbroken descent from some oak of two 
thousand years ago! 

I do not need to prove a self-evident fact in 
nature, or a self-evident fact in organic society. 
The oak of to-day proves the oak of twenty cent- 
uries ago. The bishop of to-day proves the bish- 
op of eighteen centuries ago. 

They knew oaks then from bramble bushes as 
well as we do. They knew bishops just as well 
as we do, perhaps better, and they knew, too, that 
bishops came from bishops as oaks come from 
oaks. There is no other way known to man to 
get either oaks or bishops. The ground has been 
gone over so many times, and so carefully and ex- 
haustively, and by such thorough scholarship, that 
one may rest in peace. — From the sermon preached 
at the Consecration of the Rt. Rev. Davis Sessums, 
by the Bishop of Mississippi. 

Origin of Methodist Bishops. 

Mr. Wesley, when he was eighty years of age, 
in a private chamber of a public house in Bristol, 
England, was induced to lay his hands upon the 
head of the Rev. Dr. Coke, a Presbyter of the 
Church of England, appointing him as a super- 
intendent over the missionary operations of the 
Methodists in America. On Dr. Coke's arrival 



i8 



THE CHURCH. 



in this country, he proceeded to lay his hands on 
the head of a Mr. Asbury, a layman, and thereby 
ordained him to the same office of superintendent. 
These two men soon began to call themselves 
bishops. When Mr. Wesley heard of this, he im- 
mediately rebuked their arrogation of an office and 
title which he never pretended to have conveyed. 
In a letter to Mr. Asbury he says : <l How can you, 
how dare you suffer yourself to be elected a bishop ? 
I shudder, I start at the very thought. For my 
sake, for God's sake, for Christ's sake, put an end 
to this." This was the origin of the Methodist 
Episcopacy. In the matter of the ministry, the 
Methodists have the " form, without the power." 
Mr. Wesley could not give to another what he 
had never received himself. Not being a bishop, 
he could not confer Episcopal power on Dr. Coke, 
and never intended to confer any such power. 
The Episcopal Church cannot, of course, recog- 
nize an Episcopacy originating with a Presbyter 
of the Church of England as Apostolic, and there- 
fore valid. 



John Wesley during his long life was a true, 
loving, and loyal churchman, but it was impossible 
for him to prevent feelings and wishes spreading 
which finally ended in the severance of this society 
from the Catholic Church. 



THE CHURCH. 



l 9 



Denominational Ministers. 

It is well to understand that we have little, if 
any, difference with the " denominations " about 
their ministry and ordinances. These are valid 
for all that it is claimed for them. 

They say that their ministers are teachers of 
religion, duly appointed and authorized by a vol- 
untary society. They are certainly this. 

They assert that their ministers are not priests 
and have no sacerdotal power or authority. To 
this assertion we assent. 

They profess not to have Apostolic Succession. 
We agree with them upon this point. 

They state that they administer an ordinance in 
which the body and blood of Christ are not really 
present, and are not verily and indeed given, 
taken, and received ; but that it is merely a mode 
of recalling to their minds our Lord's death. This 
statement is quite unobjectionable. 

About baptism we differ somewhat from them, 
attributing to that sacrament, as administered by 
the?n, a greater effect than their own faith ventures 
to hope for. Administered with water, in the name 
of the Holy Trinity, we believe it to regenerate the 
soul that duly receives it, and to graft it into the 
body of Christ's Church. 

So, we admit their ministry to be all that they 



20 



THE CHURCH. 



claim it to be; and we admit their ordinances to 
be in no case less, and in one case more, than 
they themselves believe. 

Americana. 

" The Father of his Country " was a baptized 
and communicating member of our American 
Church, and the very words of Common Prayer 
in which, a hundred years ago, he sought to draw 
near to his Heavenly Father, were used in our 
churches in the commemorative services of the 
thirtieth day of April, a.d. 1889. — The Gospel 
Messenger. 



Robert B. Livingston, an ardent churchman and 
a warden of Trinity Church, organized the oppo- 
sition to the Stamp Act in New York in 1764; 
and it was the same churchman and patriot, then 
Chancellor Livingston, of New York, who on 
April 29, 1789, administered to the fir^t President 
of the United States the oath of office, and with 
the members of Congress and the Father of his 
Country attended service at St. Paul's Chapel on 
Broadway, joining in the Church's evening prayer, 
as read by the patriotic Provoost, chaplain of 
Congress. 

The first Congress, that assembled in Carpenter's 
Hall, Philadelphia, in 1774, was opened by the 



THE CHURCH. 



21 



patriotic rector of Christ Church "in full canoni- 
cals," as the Puritan Adams is careful to note, 
with the Church's prayers. 

The resolution offered in the Continental Con- 
gress of 1776, declaring the thirteen colonies free 
and independent, was moved by Richard Henry 
Lee, of Virginia, a churchman and a vestryman. 

Of the fifty-five signers of the Declaration of 
Independence thirty-four were churchmen. 

The author of the Declaration itself, Thomas 
Jefferson, of Virginia, although in later life re- 
garded as an infidel, had been baptized and was 
a vestryman of the Church in Virginia, and to the 
last of his life was a regular attendant at church. 
His Prayer-book, used in church in his later years, 
is still preserved. 

The faith of the great body of the framers of 
the Federal Constitution in 1787 was equally that 
of our church — two thirds of the convention being 
churchmen. 

The author of the " Star Spangled Banner," 
Francis Scot Key, was a churchman. Francis 
Hopkinson* author of u Hail Columbia, Happy 
Land," and one of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence, was also a churchman. 

These facts, established by careful investigation, 
afford a sufficient answer to the charge of " Tory- 
ism " at the time of the Revolutionary War, so 



THE CHURCH. 



often ignorantly and maliciously urged against the 
Church. — Bishop Perty, in "Iowa Churchman" 



The Church of England was the first that came 
to America. It made the first prayer, baptized 
the first convert, married the first couple, buried 
the first dead, and administered the first Holy 
Communion. This was in Virginia, thirteen years 
before the Mayflower came to New England. 

The Oldest. 

Of the many religious bodies in this country, 
the Episcopal Church is the oldest, the first planted 
on these shores, as appears from the following 
statement prepared by Professor Hitchcock, an 
eminent Presbyterian divine : " In the United 
States there are more than fifty religious denom- 
inations, five of which may be found in all the 
States: Episcopalians, dating from 1607 in Vir- 
ginia; Roman Catholics, dating from 1633 in 
Maryland; Baptists, dating from 1639 in Rhode 
Island; Presbyterians, dating from 1684 in Mary- 
land ; Methodists, dating from 1 766 in New York." 

The First Prayer-book Service. 

Bishop Nichols, in his missionary address at the 
General Convention, antedated the commonly ac- 
cepted year of 1607 as the time when our Liturgy 



THE CHURCH. 



2 3 



was first used in America. He then stated that a 
Prayer-book service was first said by the Rev. 
Francis Fletcher, Drake's chaplain, in California, 
in 1579, and that he had erected a cross on the 
spot to mark the event, with this inscription : 

ST. JOHN BAPTIST'S DAY, 

JUNE 24.TH, A. D. MDLXXIX. 

The Book of Common Prayer was first used in the terri- 
tory now covered by the United States by Francis 
Fletcher, Chaplain to Francis Drake, on 
the shore of Drake's Bay, Cal. 

What Others Think of Us, 

A good showing is made by the so-called Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church in the United States. 
Over 4000 clergy, 550,000 communicants, and 
nearly 2,000,000 baptized persons, over 100,000 
confirmed — this is a very fair result in the way of 
increase during the year. Besides, there are nearly 
500 candidates for Holy Orders, and the records 
show an increase of income amounting to $2,000,- 
000. The general growth of the Church far ex- 
ceeds proportionately that of the population at 
large, or of any other religious section of it in par- 
ticular. It looks like the " Church of the Future." 
— Public Opinio7i f 



2 4 



THE CHURCH. 



The late Rev. Albert Barnes, the distinguished 
Presbyterian divine, expressed his opinion of the 
Episcopal Church as follows : 

" We remember the former services which the 
Episcopal Church rendered to the cause of truth 
and of the world's redemption ; we remember the 
bright and ever-living lights of truth which her 
clergy and her illustrious laymen have in other 
times enkindled in the darkness of this world's 
history, and which continue to pour their pure and 
steady luster on the literature, the laws, and the 
customs of the Christian w T orld ; and we trust the 
day will never come when our bosoms, or the 
bosoms of Christians in any denomination, will 
cease to beat with emotions of lofty thanksgiving 
to the God of grace that He raised up such gifted 
and holy men to meet the corruptions of the pa- 
pacy, and to breast the wickedness of the world." 



The Rev. Thos. K. Beecher, a Congregationalist 
minister, has written as follows : 

" Because the Episcopal Church is a reformed 
church, and not revolutionary ; because her Book 
of Prayer is rich and venerable above all in the Eng- 
lish tongue ; because her ritual promotes decency, 
dignity, prosperity, and permanence ; because her 
historic union through the Apostles with Christ 
comforts and satisfies so many souls ; because she 



THE CHURCH. 



25 



adopts her infant children and provides for them 
education and drill ; and because, with large hos- 
pitality, she proffers her sacrament to all true be- 
lievers of every name : therefore, from her own 
Psalter let us take the words wherewith to bless 
her : " They shall prosper that love Thee. Peace 
be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy 
palaces. For thy brethren and companions' sakes 
I wish thee prosperity. Yea, because of the house 
of the Lord our God, I will seek to do thee good." 

To Church People. 

O children of the Church! live in the Church, 
love her holy ways, walk in her paths of peace, 
look not beyond! You have naught to do with 
those who are without, but to treat them kindly, 
do good to them, and pray for them. In the Holy 
Catholic Church you have your portion ; be con- 
tent ; give God thanks ; be at rest. Live by the 
Bible and the Prayer-book. Begin each day with 
prayer ; go forth to your work and to your labor 
until the evening ; lie down with the eye of Jesus 
looking upon you, and the holy angels watching 
around. Do good in your time. Be sober, in- 
dustrious, true, honest, kind. Fulfill your course. 
Lay hold on all the helps which the Lord puts 
within your reach to bring you to heaven. So 
shall your walk be close with God ; so shall you 



26 



THE CHURCH. 



at length rest in Him with the blessing of the 
Holy Church upon your grave ; so shall you wake 
in the last great morning, to rise and go to your 
Father's house ; to be brought close to that Lord 
of whose body you are a member, and from whose 
side you will never be parted ; to inherit the king- 
dom prepared for you from the beginning of the 
world. — Bishop Huntington. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



It is a mark of the Episcopal Church that she 
holds and teaches what may be called the sacra- 
mental system. The first thing she does to a little 
infant is to baptize him, and as soon as he is able 
to learn he is taught that he is a " member of 
Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the 
kingdom of heaven " — that he has been brought 
into a " state of salvation," and he is early initiated 
into the mysteries of the two sacraments. He is 
taught the double nature of a sacrament, and that 
it is both human and divine, outward and inward, 
with a visible sign and a spiritual grace. He is 
taught that as he is admitted into this world of 
sense by the mystery of human birth, so is he 
taken into this world of spirit, which is the king- 
dom of God on earth, by his divine birth in Holy 
Baptism, that, as food sustains that " body which 
will perish," so does Jesus spiritually present in 
His body and blood sustain our whole nature, 
27 



28 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



body and soul, unto everlasting life. Now, what- 
ever may be said of this teaching, certainly this 
end is gained, viz. : The institutions of Christ are 
made part of the very system of the Episcopal 
Church, and if they were taken away the corner- 
stone and the whole foundation would be gone. — 
Rev. Thos. C. Pitkin, D.D., in "Gospel Messenger." 

The Sacraments Fundamental. 

Bishop Coleman, of Delaware, speaking on the 
" Limits of Religious Discussion," said : 

"And these limits I would set not only as re- 
gards the discussion of our Lord's nature and His 
character, but also as regards the discussion of His 
commandments. Let me illustrate my meaning 
here by reference to the two great sacraments of 
the Christian religion, Baptism and the Supper of 
the Lord. These were unquestionably ordained 
by Christ Himself. And they are accounted " as 
generally necessary to salvation." Yet how largely 
are they ignored by people living in these United 
States! And how flippantly, oftentimes, is the 
question of their obligation discussed ! The ques- 
tion, I submit, is beyond the legitimate limits of a 
religious discussion. It is treasonable to the King 
of kings, and thus becomes in itself irreligious. 

"I am quite prepared to admit that there are 
some points in regard to the sacraments which 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



2 9 



may be legitimately discussed, e.g., the mode of 
baptism. But as to their necessity, there is no 
room for debate. That question has been settled, 
and whoever, by argument or by practice, shows 
disrespect to such a fundamental principle of the 
kingdom puts himself out of court, and is, I repeat 
it, guilty of treason. It is not an open question. 

" In fact, it has never been anything else but a 
closed question, except as those who are rebellious 
have dared to debate it." 

The Holy Communion. 

The Church has always set forth the Holy 
Communion as a heavenly means of grace, the 
gift of our Incarnate God. As St. Paul says, " The 
bread which we break, is it not the communion of 
the body of Christ ? The cup of blessing which 
we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of 
Christ ? " I do not know of one word of Holy 
Scripture, or of our Book of Common Prayer, or 
of the Liturgies of the Primitive Church, which 
teaches Christian men that any benefits come to 
them in this holy sacrament, except in its faith- 
ful reception. — Bishop Whipple. 

Personal Loyalty. 

Every now and then it becomes a duty to re- 
mind communicants of the Church that they of 



30 THE SACRAMENTS. 

all persons ought to display a personal loyalty to 
their Church by uninterrupted attendance at the 
services, and especially at the Holy Communion. 
It is amazing how many communicants ignore this 
obligation. With some it seems to be more a 
matter of personal inclination than duty. When 
Sunday comes, when the sacrament is adminis- 
tered, it is not a question of choice but one of 
solemn fidelity. This staying away from church 
for the sake of some home pleasure, or by reason 
of the weather, fair or foul, or because one does 
not feel like going, is strangely inconsistent. It 
not only injures the spiritual life of those who are 
thus derelict, but it tends to retard the prosperity 
of the parish. It is hard enough to build up a 
parish without having those who ought to be co- 
workers in the task continually chilling the enthu- 
siasm and dampening the ardor of the appointed 
pastor. They take for granted that they will not 
be missed. They are missed, and the rector has 
the right to kindly but firmly beg of them to stop 
and consider what their highest duty is in this re- 
spect. — Parish Paper. 

Worship vs. Preaching. 

One day a courtier found King Henry V. at- 
tending the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at 
an almost deserted side-chapel in Westminster 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



31 



Abbey, while a great crowd, gathered thick to- 
gether, filled the nave, and hung upon the lips of 
a popular preacher. When an opportunity pre- 
sented itself, the courtier inquired of the king why 
he was not with the large congregation. On this 
the king replied, " I would rather be with my 
dearest friend than merely to hear him talked 
about." — The Gospel Messenger. 

The Holy Communion Every Sunday. 

Richard Baxter says : " Ordinarily, in well-dis- 
ciplined churches this sacrament should be ad- 
ministered every Lord's Day; for we have no 
reason to prove that the Apostles' example and 
appointment in this case was proper to those times 
alone, any more than the praise and thanksgiving 
daily is proper to them ; and we may as well deny 
the obligation of other institutions or Apostolical 
orders as that. Again, it is a part of the settled 
order for the Lord's Day's worship, and omitting 
it maimeth and altereth the worship of the day, 
and occasioneth the omission of thanksgiving and 
praise and lively commemorations of Christ which 
should be then most performed. . . . Eucharisti- 
cal worship is the greatest work of the day, there- 
fore the celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper was always a chief part of its observation 
in the primitive churches, not merely for the sac- 



32 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



rament's sake, but because with it was still joined 
all the laudatory and thanksgiving worship." — 

Christian Directory, pp. 602, 855. 



God's Word and all history- show that receiving 
the Holy Communion every Lord's Day was the 
old way, and receiving once a month entirely a 
modern custom. In " often receiving " we are 
copying the whole Church of the first three hun- 
dred years. — Bishop Paret, of Maryland. 



No Lord's Day is complete without the Eucha- 
rist. — Bishop Doane,of Alba?iy. 

Frequent Celebrations. 

The more frequent celebrations of the Holy 
Communion attest a deeper appreciation of the 
Church's precious doctrine of the real presence of 
our dear Lord in the sacrament of His body and 
blood. We cannot, with our poor faculties, meas- 
ure or rightly value the gift that is vouchsafed to 
the soul that devoutly and faithfully communicates. 
The highest act of worship on earth, the hour of 
special heartfelt devotion to the Incarnate God, is 
surely the time for us to make our prayers with a 
greatly quickened faith. — Bishop Welles. 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



33 



A Bad Practice. 

There is no authority whatever for the rude 
exodus, after the prayer for the Church, of those 
not minded to receive the Holy Communion, or 
who have received at an earlier hour. It is a 
breach of good manners, and ought to be de' 
nounced by the educated. The Church expects 
her children to remain for the blessing, which 
comes at the close of the service ; but to disturb 
the priest, who is almost forced to stop on account 
of the commotion caused by the withdrawal of 
many, borders closely on sacrilege. A similar mis- 
demeanor in polite society would not be tolerated. 
— Church Calendar. 

Holy Baptism. 

Perhaps the most beautiful of many practical 
features of our holy religion is this, that it em- 
braces and provides for the salvation of children. 
From their earliest days it claims them, takes them 
into its loving care, ministers grace to their souls, 
and places them in the charge of Christian god- 
parents, pastors, and teachers, that they may be re- 
tained in the Church of God, and so be brought 
up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 
— Oklahoma Churchman. 



34 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



To Parents : Bringing your children to Holy 
Baptism is the greatest kindness you can show 
them. The mind of our blessed Lord, the devo- 
tion and experience of the ages, the tender solici- 
tude of the parent heart guided by faith in Christ 
Jesus, and the purpose of the sacrament itself, all 
demonstrate that the baptism of children is really 
"mercy to babes." Parents, be not unmerciful, 
As you love your children, present them in the tem- 
ple unto the Lord your God. — Diocese of Arkansas. 

Dr. Spalding and Infant Baptism. 

The late Dr. H. W. Spalding was in conversation 
a strong defender of Church principles. While he 
was rector at Madison, he strolled out one day 
for a hunt, and calling at a farmhouse late in the 
afternoon, he asked for a lunch. While he was 
eating the bread and milk which the good lady of 
the house had provided for him, he remarked to 
her, as she sat holding a little child in her lap, 
" Has this child been baptized ? " Suffice it to 
say that the doctor had struck the wrong chord, 
and discovered at once that he had asked the 
question of a very strong Baptist, and, withal, one 
gifted with an unusual amount of intelligence. 
After going over the usual arguments pro and con 
upon the subject of infant baptism with the usual 
unsatisfactory results, and in which the good lady 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



left the little ones to shiver on the outside of the 
Christian fold, Dr. Spalding turned upon her in 
one of those sudden sallies for which he was always 
eminent when roused : 

" See here, my dear madam, there is no use of 
our going on in this way. Please answer me, 
what is every child that is born into the world — a 
child of grace or a child of wrath ? " 

" Why, a child of wrath, of course. We Baptists 
believe that." 

"Then," continued the doctor, " what would 
become of this infant, that you are holding in your 
lap, if it should die to-morrow ? " 

" Why, it would go to heaven." 

" What ! a child of wrath go to heaven ? " 

" Yes ; it goes to heaven by the merits of Christ's 
atonement." 

" Now, madam, see your strange inconsistency 
— Christ's atonement can take your babe into 
heaven, but cannot get it into the Baptist Church! " 
— The Church Times, Milwaukee. 



All the modern Christian communions, Pres- 
byterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists, all 
except the Anabaptists, hold to the practice of 
infant baptism. That is, ninety-nine out of a 
hundred Christians believe in infant baptism. 



36 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



Confirmation. 

While confirmation is not ordinarily regarded 
as a sacrament, yet it comes within the Church's 
sacramental system in that it is grace-conferring. 
The teaching of the Prayer-book concerning this 
rite is clear and explicit both as to its being a 
means of grace and concerning those to whom it 
is to be administered. To this statement is ap- 
pended the estimate of this holy ordinance by 
those who have departed from the practice of the 
Universal Church. 

CONFIRMATION WHAT OTHERS THINK. 

Methodist testimony : " I was determined not 
to be without it, and therefore went and received 
confirmation — even since I became a Methodist 
preacher." — Dr. Adam Clarke. 

Baptist testimony : " We believe that laying on 
of hands, with prayer, upon baptized believers as 
such, is an ordinance of Christ, and ought to be 
submitted unto by all persons to partake of the 
Lord's Supper." — Baptist Association, September 
17, 1742. 

Congregational testimony : " The confession of 
the name of Christ is, after all, very lame, and will 
be so till the discipline which Christ ordained be 
restored, and the rite of confirmation be recov- 



THE SACRAMENTS. 



37 



ered to its full use and solemnity." — Dr. Coleman, 
Boston. 

Presbyterian testimony : " The rite of confirma- 
tion thus administered to baptized children, when 
arrived at competent years, shows clearly that the 
Primitive Church, in her purest days, exercised the 
authority of a mother over her baptized children." 
— Committee of the Ge?ieral Assembly. 

This custom is frequently mentioned by the 
ancient writers. Such imposition of hands as is 
simply connected with the benediction I highly 
approve, and wish it were now restored to its 
primitive use uncorrupted by superstition. — John 
Calvin. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



A Liturgy is a growth. A real Prayer-book 
cannot be extemporized. It is a " development." 
Its roots run back into the dimness of the mistiest 
past. It is the blossom of the ages. — Parish Paper, 

Lineage of our Prayer-book. 

The English Prayer-book is the modern de- 
scendant of a long train of venerable ancestors, 
which carry up its lineage to Apostolic times and 
perhaps to the pens of inspired men. There is 
good reason to think that Liturgies are as old as 
Christianity itself ; and that the example and com- 
mandment of our Lord, when He gave to His 
Apostles the Lord's Prayer, and the words with 
which the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was to 
be celebrated, and that of baptism administered, 
was followed up by the composition of liturgical 
forms, in which the early Church could carry on 
its worship on uniform principles, and, to a great 
38 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



39 



extent, in uniform words. During the time when 
Christianity was suffering from fierce persecutions 
it was almost impossible to have these forms writ- 
ten down for use in books, and even the Scriptures 
themselves were taught chiefly by word of mouth. 
But as settled times came, the Christian commu- 
nities were able to bring their few copies of sacred 
books out of their hiding-places, to increase the 
number of them, and to use them publicly without 
danger of death following upon discovery. From 
these earliest settled times the Prayer-books of the 
Christians of the Eastern and Western Churches 
have been handed down to us, or at least so much 
of them as was used in the celebration of the Holy 
Eucharist, which was the principal service of the 
Church, day by day, in those ages. 

Of the Christian Liturgies which have come 
down to us, the most ancient are those of St. Mark, 
St. James, St. Clement, and St. Chrysostom. No 
one who has read these venerable services can 
doubt that our own Prayer-book is in some way 
derived from them, or from some like them. — 
Household Theology. 

The People's Book. 

The Book of Common Prayer is a rare inherit- 
ance for all who will receive it. It is suited to 
all sorts and conditions of men at all times. It 



4 o 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



contains a summary of the things a Christian ought 
to know, believe, and do. Its round of services 
presents the facts and doctrines of the divine rev- 
elation in due order and proportion, and groups 
the incidents and teachings of our Lord's ministry. 
Its creeds express the faith of Christendom. Its 
canticles lift the soul to loftiest praise. Its 
psalter, in portions for daily use, sweeps the whole 
range of experience. Its catechism instructs child- 
hood in the elements of religion, and its various 
offices, fitting the changes of life, carry solace to the 
sick, the aged, the troubled, and sanctify the vary- 
ing conditions of human existence. It is worthy 
to become the religious book of all the people of 
America, to be placed beside the Bible, as a wit- 
ness to the truth, a treasury of devotion, and an 
incentive to right thinking and righteous living. 
In one word, the Book of Common Prayer is the 
people's book. 

Should not every diocese have devoted persons 
engaged in placing the Prayer-book in the hands 
of people who are strangers to its worth ? — Dr. 
Langford. 

Should be Distributed. 

A distinguished non-Episcopal divine has ex- 
pressed his wonder that the Episcopal Church 
should be so blind to its advantage in possessing 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



41 



such a tract as the Book of Common Prayer. 
" Every one," he said, " who reads it must admire 
and love it, and venerate the Church which has 
produced it. Its Christian breadth, its deep spir- 
ituality, its adaptation to the uses of all who pro- 
fess and call themselves Christians, its unsectarian 
character, excluding as it does all forms of secta- 
rian controversy — these make the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer an ideal agent for winning the regard 
of Christian people for the Church to which it be- 
longs." This gentleman went still further, saying 
that he would consider it a great gain to the spir- 
itual life of all denominations if the Episcopal 
Church were to send a copy of the Prayer-book 
to every minister of every religious body in the 
land. As a contribution to the cause of Christian 
unity (which must begin in unity of spirit, if there 
is ever to be a bond of peace) we can think of 
nothing likely to be more effectual than the dis- 
tribution of the Book of Common Prayer among 
Christians of every name. 



A churchwoman in this diocese, living where 
we have neither church nor established congre- 
gation, recently distributed twenty copies of the 
Prayer-book among her neighbors. As the result, 
seven candidates for confirmation are awaiting 
Bishop Jackson's visitation. 



42 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



One candidate for every three Prayer-books — 
what more effective missionary can be sent out ? 

— Diocese of Alabama. 

Excellence of the Prayer-book. 

Of the excellence of the English Prayer-book, 
of which our own is almost an exact copy, Dr. 
Adam Clarke, the distinguished Methodist, thus 
speaks : " It is the greatest effort of the Reforma- 
tion, next to the translation of the Scriptures into 
the English language. ... As a form of devotion 
it has no equal in any part of the Universal Church 
of God. . . . Next to the Bible, it is the book of 
my understanding, and of my heart." 



The Liturgy of the Episcopal Church has be- 
come very precious to me. The depth of its mean- 
ing, it seems to me, nobody can fathom who has 
not experienced some great sorrow. We have 
lost much in parting with the prayers of the old 
Mother- Church ; and what have we gained in their 
place ? I do not feel in extemporaneous prayer 
the deep undertone of devotion which rings out 
from the old collects of the church like the sound 
of ancient bells. I longed for, and prayed for, 
and, worst of all, waited for some sublime and 
revolutionary change of heart ; and when that was, 
as a fact on a child's experience, I have not the 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



43 



remotest idea. If I had been trained in the Epis- 
copal Church, I should at the time have been con- 
firmed, and entered upon a consciously religious 
life, and grown up into Christian living of the 
Episcopal type. — From the Memoirs of Professor 
Austin Phelps (Co?igregationalist). 



The Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, a Congrega- 
tional minister of Elmira, N. Y., some years ago in 
preaching to his congregation on the Episcopal 
Church said of the Prayer-book : 

" In English there are no lessons, gospels, psalms, 
collects, confessions, thanksgivings, prayers — in 
one word, no religious form book — that can stand 
a moment in comparison with the Prayer-book of 
the Episcopal Church in the twofold quality of 
richness and age. You rarely hear in any church 
a prayer spoken in English that is not indebted to 
the Prayer-book for some of its choicest periods. 
Every one has at some time been shocked or bored 
by public devotional performances. Nothing of 
this sort ever occurs in the Episcopal Church. 
All things are done decently and in order. To be 
a devout and consistent churchman brings a man 
through aisles fragrant with holy association, and 
accompanied by a long procession of the good, 
chanting as they march an orison of piety and 
hope, until they come to the holy place where 



44 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



shining saints sing the new song of the redeemed, 
and they sing with them." 

The Church's System. 

There is a system of Church-observance, open- 
ness of sanctuaries, kneeling down in them, weekly 
and Holy- Day Communion, which is plain on the 
pages of our Liturgic Manual, in our law, our ru- 
brics, and our history. It is there; it belongs 
there ; it will stay there. It will be honored there 
in the years to come more than in the years gone 
by. Our wisdom is to mind, in " all humility and 
readiness of heart," to the utmost, every provision 
and requirement, every command and ordinance 
and thanksgiving of this Heavenly Homestead, our 
" House Beautiful " and Tower of Defense. For 
every member of the Family, down to the least, up 
to the greatest, the Father knows what is best. 
Fidelity to the Church system, then, is fidelity to 
Him. — Bishop Hunti?igton, in Convention Ad- 
dress. 1884. 

The Collects. 

Any one of us may lose hearing or sight, wholly 
or partially, and arrive at days when it is a com- 
fort unspeakable to remember delightful and help- 
ful stories, verses which we have loved, and chap- 
ters from the treasure-house of the Sacred Word. 
The collects of the Episcopal Church, familiar by 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



45 



incessant repetition through many years, have been 
as cheerful music in the invalid's room, when age 
or illness have prevented attendance on divine 
service. — Harper's Bazaar. 

The Psalter. 

The psalms in the Prayer-book are taken from 
" the Great English Bible," or Cranmer's Bible, set 
forth and used in the time of King Henry VIII. 
and King Edward VI., and consequently differ 
materially from the translation of the "Authorized 
Version made in the reign of King James I., 
a.d. 1611. The old version of the Reformation 
period was retained because the choirs were ac- 
customed to its use and its language was deemed 
more rhythmical and smooth, and adapted for 
song ; and because at the time of the last Eng- 
lish revision of the Prayer-book, in a.d. 1662, the 
Church people generally were so familiarized with 
the psalter version as to be able to sing it from 
memory without the use of the book. — Milwaukee 
Church Times. 

Join in the Services. 

Enjoyment of the services is immeasurably in- 
creased when one joins heart and soul and voice 
in the worship. It is the heritage of Church 
people that they can be something more than 



4 6 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



"hearers of the Word." The title of the Prayer- 
book is " Common Prayer." A part of the mean- 
ing of this title is, that our book belongs to the 
people as well as to the priest. It is used in com- 
mon by minister and congregation. Let us put it 
to its fullest use in public services. Let all join 
audibly in the responses and in saying the Creed, 
the Confession, the Lord's Prayer, etc. Then our 
worship will be in some degree like that described 
in the Book of Revelation : "like the voice of many- 
waters" — Cathedral Chimes , Omaha. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. , 



The Anglican and American churches have^ 
among other great features of the historic Church, 
that of the Christian year. Many of our own 
people are not aware how valuable an inheritance 
this is to them. In the first place, it presents truths 
by system and order rather than by confusion and 
caprice. Truth has various aspects, many phases, 
and no man, though he be endowed with the theo- 
logical acumen and the profound learning of Aqui- 
nas, can perceive all of the aspects of truth at the 
same time. The Christian year, with the eight 
seasons, presents the truth in a revolving cycle, 
in which these various phases are presented to the 
devout churchman in due and orderly succession. 
There is a wide difference between the teachings 
of Advent and those of Christmas-tide, yet both 
are necessary to a complete view of Christian 
truth. The phases of truth as presented to ear- 
nest contemplation during Lent are not the same 
47 



4 8 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



as those to be dwelt upon in the joyous season of 
Easter-tide, yet both are essential to any compre- 
hensive understanding of Christianity. And thus, 
in studying the wondrous life of our Lord, and the 
truth taught by Him and His Apostles in Gospel 
and Epistle, and in the collects and ordered service 
of the Church He founded, we get such complete- 
ness of view, such depth of insight, as only the 
Christian year can give. All this is the result of 
the Church being an organic institution and not 
simply an association of men, women, and children 
for religious purposes. Churchmen who under- 
stand the Church and have the Church idea be- 
lieve profoundly in this institutional Christianity 
as opposed to sporadic and congregational Chris- 
tianity. They see that it makes order in confu- 
sion, cosmos amid chaos. The Christian year is 
not only a marked feature of historic and institu- 
tional Christianity, but it is a strong teacher of 
this. It is not only a note of an organic, visible 
Church, but a powerful promulgator of the bame. 
Yet while other religious bodies are growing 
strongly toward the ecclesiastical year and the 
liturgy of our Church, we here and there find a 
churchman who does not value it because he has 
never taken the time to study it or understand it. 
His Church has an immensely good thing and he 
does not know it, and therefore does not care for 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



49 



it. The Church is so distinct and certain in her 
teachings of an ordered polity that it seems singular 
that any one who has any conception of her meth- 
ods should fail to assist in carrying them out. — The 
Church Times, Milwaukee. 

The Christian Year in Verse. 

At a recent catechizing of a mission Sunday- 
school by the bishop, the following ingenious lines 
were recited by the children in unison. Teachers 
may be glad to use them. 

Advent tells us Christ is near, 
Christmas tells us Christ is here; 
In Epiphany we trace 
All the glory of His grace. 
Those three Sundays before Lent 
Will prepare us to repent, 
That in Lent we may begin 
Earnestly to mourn for sin. 
Holy Week and Easter then 
Tell who died and rose again 
O that happy Easter day 
Christ is risen again we say. 
Yes, and Christ ascended too 
To prepare a place for you. 
So we give Him special praise 
After those great forty days. 
Then He sent the Holy Ghost 
On the day of Pentecost, 
With us ever to abide, 
Well may we keep Whitsuntide. 



5° 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



Last of all we humbly sing 
Glory to our God and King, 
Glory to the One in Three 
On the Feast of Trinity. — Amen. 

— Gospel Messenger, 

A Letter to a Friend. 

" I want you always to remember that it is quite 
as binding upon you, wherever you may be, to 
keep Ascension-day as to keep Christmas or Easter, 
Your Prayer-book appoints the same service for 
both days, and it would not be necessary for me 
to tell you this but for the neglect into which 
the festival has fallen. We shall none of us ever 
realize the great facts of our Lord's life and the 
doctrines flowing from them, unless we obey the 
Church's rule and observe her fasts and feasts. 
Those who live and die outside her blessed fold 
may talk of the Church's calendar as a formal list 
of days and dates, but let us, who know better 
from happy experience, always count it a privilege 
beyond words to follow ' the blessed steps of His 
most holy life,' and from His humiliation, in taking 
our flesh, at Christmas, on to the day of His ascen- 
sion triumph, never fail to honor Him with most 
loving devotion." 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



5* 



Friday. 

It is encouraging to note a growing tendency 
to honor the day of our Lord's crucifixion with a 
service, and where there is but one week-day ser- 
vice, to appoint it, if practicable, for that day. 
The propriety of this cannot be questioned. The 
Prayer-book is specific as to the religious observ- 
ance of Friday. To omit this oft-recurring link 
from the chain of the Church's year is like keep- 
ing Easter after ignoring the commemoration of 
the Passion. But now and then there is disap- 
pointing evidence of the fact that Church people 
feel less strongly upon this subject than do the 
members of other religious bodies. For instance, 
in one of our cities recently a series of public enter- 
tainments was given for the benefit of a benevolent 
object, and the evenings of the week were assigned 
to representatives of the various ecclesiastical or- 
ganizations. When it came to making provision 
for Friday it was found that Methodists, Baptists, 
Presbyterians, etc., would not touch it because it 
was their prayer-meeting night. The entertain- 
ment for Friday evening, therefore, was assigned 
to Episcopalians and Unitarians conjointly. That 
Church people could be found who would enter 
into such an arrangement is not greatly to their 
credit. — Correspondent of the "Standard." 



5* 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



The Christian Year Desired by Others. 

The Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, in a paper he read 
before the last Pan-Presbyterian Conference, thus 
speaks of the value of the Christian year and pleads 
for its restoration : 

" I anticipate a revival of the old Christian year. 
Clear back, close up to the Apostolic times, we 
find at least Passover, Pentecost, and Epiphany. 
Christmas appears not long after. And then the 
calendar was crowded with festivals which dis- 
gusted our Protestant fathers, bringing the whole 
system into disrepute. As between Puritans and 
Papists we side, of course, with the Puritan, but 
the older way is better than either. Judaism had 
more than its weekly Sabbath, and Protestant 
Christendom needs more and is steadily taking 
more. Christmas is leading this new procession. 
Good Friday, Easter, and Whitsuntide are not 
far behind. These, at least, can do us no harm. 
They emphasize the three grand facts and features 
of our religion : Incarnation, Atonement, and Regen- 
eration." 



The well-nigh universal restoration of Christmas 
as a popular holiday, and its increasing observance 
as a religious festival by the various Protestant 
denominations, are pleasant things to see. It has 



THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



53 



all come about within the memory of men still 
young, who can well remember when the Church's 
steadfast observance of days and months and times 
and years was denounced on all sides as a turning 
again to weak and beggarly elements. And it has 
come to stay. The people win* not - suffer them- 
selves to be again defrauded of their Christmas 
and Easter, and will gradually recover to them- 
selves the whole orderly sequence of the Christian 
year. — The Churchman. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE PARISH— ITS LIFE AND WORK. 



A Strong Church. 

" Is it a strong congregation ? " asked a man 
respecting a body of worshipers. 
" Yes," was the reply. 
"How many members are there ? " 
" Seventy-six." 

" Seventy-six ! Are they so very wealthy ? " 
" No ; they are poor." 

" How, then, do you say it is a strong church? ,r 
" Because," said the gentleman, " they are ear- 
nest, devoted, at peace, loving one another and 
striving together to do the Master's work. Such a 
congregation is strong, whether composed of five 
or five hundred." — Church Record. 

A Model Parish. 

The ideal model parish is something like this : 
One whose members feel and act on the need of 

54 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 55 

personal religion, and are willing and desirous to 
perform personal service in the little details of 
duty and work, as well as in those that are more 
conspicuous; where family prayer and Christian 
nurture at home feed the parish life ; where every 
service is attended regularly, not only by adults, 
but by children ; where every act and attitude of 
worship is faithfully observed ; where all kneel to 
pray, and rise to praise with a promptness and 
precision that become contagious in the heartiness 
of outspoken utterance ; where the voice of song 
from every part of the house blends in simple and 
rich melody ; where reverence and earnest fervor 
characterize every part from beginning to close ; 
where the sick are visited, the poor are assisted, 
and strangers are welcomed ; where every man, 
woman, and child is a weekly giver according to 
ability, holding themselves and all that they pos- 
sess as belonging to God ; where they are desirous 
to receive instruction and are satisfied with, and 
grateful for, such as their means will command, 
whether it be through clerical or lay service ; where 
they feel a common interest in all that pertains to 
the Church in every part of the world, and by 
that interest and sympathy are bound together in 
a blessed brotherhood. — The Living Church, 



56 THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 



How NOT to Help Your Minister. 

Absent yourself from morning service. 

Stay at home whenever it rains on Sunday, or 
it is too hot or too cold. 

Never let the preacher know if he has ever done 
you any good. 

Take a class in the Sunday-school; never be 
punctual, and frequently be absent. 

Attend no church gatherings if you have the 
opportunity of going anywhere else. 

If times are hard, at once diminish or withdraw 
your subsc ''prions, for fear lest, when you have 
paid for your jewelry, etc., you may have nothing 
left for your holiday. 

Always grumble at the sermon, and fear that 
you cannot stand the draughts much longer. 

"It takes time," writes a North Carolina clergy- 
man, " to make a Churchman. An Episcopalian 
is quite a different matter, and easily made. I 
find that eight men out of ten think they have 
done enough when they give a few dollars a year 
and go to church once a Sunday." — St. Andrew's 
Cross. 

Hypocrites. 

Did you ever notice that the man who says he 
is kept out of church by hypocrites is not influ- 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 57 

enced by them anywhere else ? Business is full 
of them, but if he sees a chance to make money 
he doesn't stop for that. The theater is full of 
them, and yet he will go and pay to look at 
them. 

Society is crowded with them, and yet he never 
thinks of becoming a hermit. Married life is full 
of them, but that does not make him remain a 
bachelor. Hell is full of them, and yet he is not 
doing a thing to keep away from there. He wants 
to have you think he is trying to avoid the soci- 
ety of hypocrites, and yet he takes no single step 
toward the only place in God's universe where no 
hypocrite can go, and by his conduct proves that 
he himself is the biggest kind of a hypocrite. — 
Rev. E. R. Baxter, quoted in the Diocese of Spring- 
field, 

Christian faith is a grand cathedral, with divinely 
pictured windows. Standing without, you see no 
glory, nor can possibly imagine any ; standing 
within, every ray of light reveals a harmony of 
unspeakable splendors. — Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

" To Every Man His Work." 

Every member of the parish ought to be doing 
some work in or for the parish. Join one of the 
societies — the Auxiliary, the Parish Aid, the King's 



58 THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

Daughters, the Altar Guild, the Brotherhood of 
St. Andrew. Sing in the choir, teach in the 
Sunday-school, work in the Industrial School. 
Give money for missions and for the parish char- 
ities. Be doers of the work, not simply hearers 
of the Word, " for as the body without the spirit 
is dead, even so faith without work is dead also." 
— Cathedral Chimes, Omaha. 



Luther said : "Bene orare est bene laborare " — 
to pray well is to work well. The converse is 
also true : to work well in a good cause is to pray 
in the best fashion. But the best of all is to unite 
hard work with earnest prayer. — Chtirch Standard. 



A good Christian cannot be other than eager 
for the extension of our Lord's kingdom among 
men, not only from his sense of what is due to the 
Lord who bought him, but also from his natural 
sense of justice, his persuasion that he has no right 
to withhold from others those privileges and pros- 
pects which are the joy of his own inmost life. 



There is no life so humble that if it be true and 
genuinely human and obedient to God it may not 
hope to shed some of His light. There is no life 
so meager that the greatest and wisest of us can 
afford to despise it. We cannot know at what 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 59 

moment it may flash forth with the life of God. — 
Phillips Bi'ooks. 

" You wear yourself out by holding so many 
services," says the layman to the priest. Might 
not the priest justly reply, " You wear me out by 
thwarting my earnest efforts to maintain the ser- 
vices in their integrity"? It is not the work that 
crushes, so much as the pressure of unaided, un- 
appreciated labor and self-sacrifice. — The Gospel 
Messenger. 

A gentleman of national reputation, in New 
York City, whose public and private duties are 
such that most men would grant him, without his 
asking, relief from church work, called the other 
day on the pastor of one of the most active work- 
ing churches in the city. " I cannot afford," he 
said, " to give my whole energy to my professional 
employments, I must have some church work to 
do ; and I have come to your church because it is 
a working church, and to you because I want a 
share in your work." If all churches were like 
that one and all Christians in name like this man, 
they would soon change the world to righteousness. 

Church of the Heavenly Rest. 

The truth in some stories is demonstrated by the 
ease with which they fit themselves to many and 



6o THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

varied localities. Doubtless many of our clergy can 
find the " double " to the following incident : After 
a mission held in a parish in some Eastern city, a 
woman came to the rector and said that she had 
been greatly stirred up and revived by the mission,, 
and that she wanted to go to work in his parish. 
The rector proposed first one branch and then 
another of parish work, but without effect. One 
was too hard, another too inconvenient, another 
not pleasant, to another she was not suited, until 
by this time, understanding the real character of 
the woman, the rector said : " My dear madam, 
you have made a mistake. This is not the church 
you want. What you are looking for is the church 
of the Heavenly Rest." 



All Christians must work. What would happen 
if only the officers fought ? — F. W. Robertso?i. 

Family Prayers. 

The following is from a recent pastoral of Bishop 
Coxe : 

" A neglect of family prayers is the underlying- 
source of innumerable evils in many households. 
Where a blessing is never invoked upon a family 
by all its members kneeling before God, what won- 
der if blessings are withheld ? When we reflect 
that a reverent use even of the Lord's Prayer only 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 6 I 

would preserve a family from the curse w T hich rests 
on a prayerless household, surely there can be no 
excuse for neglecting because of the proverbial 
pressure and hurry of the world's affairs. 

"The neglect of private reading of the Scriptures 
is rather to be censured, because the Prayer-book 
divides a daily portion for every Christian, out of 
which something should be selected in the busiest 
life for the daily food of the immortal spirit." 

Education of Children. 

What is wanted most in these days is dogmatic, 
orthodox, catholic teaching. There is better work 
to do than merely to cram children with geograph- 
ical, topographical, and historical statistics, divert 
them with stories, and bore them with moral plat- 
itudes and general statements which nobody de- 
nies. What can it avail to drill our boys and girls 
on the mountains and rivers, the beasts and fishes, 
the birds and bugs of the Bible, to entertain them 
with pictorial lessons about Joseph and his breth- 
ren, David and Goliath, witches, prophets, wise 
men, and bad and good folk, while omitting the 
" weightier matters " of the Creed, the holy mys- 
teries, the things to be believed to the saving of 
the soul ? It is waste of time to tell the history 
of the earthly life of Christ, while hiding or obscur- 
ing the truth that He is Very God of Very God, 



62 THE PARISH — ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

the atoning High-priest, the Royal Law-giver, the 
Awful Judge ; or to follow the Apostles in their 
journeys and voyages, yet ignore the catholic and 
apostolic religion which they built up. And what- 
ever others may think, it is my conviction that, in 
this free-and-easy age, we need something better 
than that sort of teaching which offends no one, 
and those manuals which owe their circulation to 
the fact that everything has been weeded out w T hich 
might have diminished the sale. Let us teach, 
first, the catholic faith, whole and undefiled, the 
sacramental system, the precepts of the Church, 
the perfect law of God. This is what our mother 
intends, in her standing order to sponsors, " Chiefly 
ye shall provide that this child learn the Creed.'' 
— Rev. Morgan Dix, D.D. 



The Bishop of New York has a word of exhor- 
tation for parents, too. He says : " Your child 
must learn French and German and drawing ; but 
he may learn his catechism and his Bible lesson 
and a reverent observance of the Lord's day if he 
chooses, and not otherwise. A more dismal and 
irrational folly is not easy to conceive of. I plead 
with you who are parents to train your children 
to ways of reverent familiarity with God's Word, 
God's house, and God's day. And that they may 
do this the more effectually, give them that mighti- 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 63 

est teaching which consists in your own consistent 
and devout example." 

About Reading. 

Let us not be familiar with the heroes of the 
world and utterly ignorant of the heroes of the 
Cross. Many a Christian woman could give the 
plot of Tolstoi's last novel, or the history of the 
women of the French saloons, who could not tell 
you one word of the story of David Livingstone, 
or of Hannington or Pattison. The kingdom of 
Christ endures. Let us study the history of the 
kingdom, work for the kingdom. Life is too short 
for us to read everything ; let us read the best. 

Church-going. 

Public worship is a duty which all owe unto 
God. It is not a matter of choice. You cannot 
neglect it without loss and danger to yourself. 
Especially on each Lord's day no one should be 
absent without most urgent reasons. If every 
person in the parish would make a point to be 
present at each service, we should have a crowded 
church each time, and thus a more worthy tribute 
of praise be offered, and the influence of the church 
of Christ be greatly increased. Shall not such be 
the case ? Remember that the responsibility rests 
with you. 



64 THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

Should Tired People go to Church? 

Many of those who stay at home all day Sun- 
day because they are tired make a great mistake. 
They are much more weary on Sunday night than 
they would have been had they gone to church 
at least once, as the time must often drag heavily 
on Sunday for the lack of something to do and 
to think about, and the consciousness of having 
spent the day unprofitably must sometimes add 
mental dissatisfaction to languor that follows 
idleness. 

Moreover, these tired people would often find 
refreshment for their minds and hearts in the quiet 
services of the church. They would secure by 
means of them a change of mental atmosphere, 
and the suggestion of thoughts and motives and 
sentiments which are out of the range of their 
routine work. For a hard-working mechanic or 
salesman, or housekeeper, or teacher, the diversion 
of the thought to other than the customary themes 
might be the most restful way of spending a por- 
tion of the day of rest. We happen to know of 
several cases in which this prescription has been 
used with excellent results. Those who wanted 
to stay at home because they were too tired on 
Sunday to go to church have been induced to try 
the experiment of seeking rest for their souls, as 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 65 

well as their bodies, in the church on Sunday, and 
they testify that they have found what they sought ; 
that the observance has proved a refreshment 
rather than a weariness, and that their Sundays 
never gave them so much good rest when they 
stayed at home as they have given them since 
they formed the habit of church-going. — Good 
Company. 

Some Conundrums. 

Why is it that good churchmen find it so easy 
to give from three to five hours to an entertain- 
ment or social gathering for their personal gratifi- 
cation, and are in such a hurry when asked to 
attend meetings of the vestry or committees, oc- 
casionally to transact the important work of the 
Lord ? 

Why does ten dollars seem so large when asked 
for church purposes, and so small when it is to 
be expended on personal indulgence ? 

Why is time so scarce when the church-bell calls 
to worship, but so plenty when the world calls for 
pleasure ? 

Why are Sundays and other church days colder 
and hotter and wetter than other days? 

Why do people who seldom or never respond 
to special calls for money find most fault because 
the calls are made? 



66 THE PARISH — -ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

Why is Sunday sickness the sickest sickness? 

Why are excuses that will keep people from 
church not thought sufficient for " regrets" when 
social requisitions are made? 

Why is not the salvation of the soul made the first 
consideration at all times ? — Northeast, Maine. 



American factories turn out a cart-load of 
watches every day, and yet people come in late 
to church just as of yore. — New York Herald. 

Sunday Excuses. 

For many years we have read arguments to 
show the wrong men do who neglect the worship 
of God and leave their pews in church empty. 
We are glad the period of argument has given 
place to sarcasm, for it is a negligence beneath 
the dignity of reason, while it is exactly suited to 
ridicule. We all know the excuses are mere shams, 
devoid of sincerity. An illustration of the new 
method : A man looks out upon the rain and says 
to his wife, who is preparing to go to the opera : 
" My dear, I don't think we can go out in this 
storm," and receives the reply : " Why, you forget, 
do you not? We are not getting ready for church.'' 

Such instances are much more in keeping with 
the subject — much more convincing also than ar- 
gument. 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 67 

The Business Man's Lesson. 

He was an upright business man. In his heart 
he believed the religion of Christ to be true. But 
he was very busy, and when Sunday came he was 
thoroughly tired. He had become interested, too, 
in his Sunday paper, so he gradually dropped off 
going to church. His wife went regularly, and 
sometimes the children. One morning, just after 
his wife had set out, he was comfortably seated 
reading the money article, when he heard his boys 
talking in the next room. Said eight-y ear-old 
Willie : " When you grow up shall you go to 
church as mother does, or stay at home like 
father ? " " I shall do neither," said the other, 
decidedly. " When I'm a man, I shall have my 
horses, and be on the road Sundays, and enjoy 
myself." The newspaper suddenly lost its attrac- 
tion. Between the father and it there came a pic- 
ture of his boys associating with loose men, and 
drifting into a godless, reckless life, and of himself 
looking on it in his old age as the fruit of his self- 
indulgence. Five minutes after he was rapidly 
walking toward the church. When the service 
was over, his wife, coming down the aisle, saw 
him waiting at the door. There was questioning, 
glad surprise in her eyes, but he only remarked 
that he had taken a walk, and he thought he would 



68 THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

join her on her way home. Next Sunday, how- 
ever, the whole family were in their pew, and all 
the rest of the day there was a kind of peace 
about the house that reminded him of his boyhood 
days in his father's home. And who will say that 
he was the less fitted for another week of business 
life by this share in the services of God's house 
instead of " staying at home all day Sunday to 
rest " ? — Sunday-school Times. 

4 'We had Company. " 

An oft urged reason for absence from church. 
We may think it a very forcible one until we study 
it carefully ; but it fails upon a careful investiga- 
tion. There are some people that are always in 
their place in church. They have hosts of friends, 
but they never are kept home because they have 
company. It must be that their friends know 
that they are regular attendants at church, and 
another time is selected. And having established 
their reputation as Christians, their Christian habits 
are not disturbed. We know no better advice to 
those who would like to attend church regularly 
than to urge them to establish a reputation. If a 
friend calls, state your intention to go to church, 
and invite him to go with you. If he declines, 
follow the rule which we know was adopted in 
one family : " If callers will not accompany us, 



THE PARISH ITS LIFE AND WORK. 69 

let them stay till we come back." There is no 
discourtesy whatever. Church attendance is a 
matter of principle, and they soon learn that you 
prize your relations to God more highly than any 
social, friendly relation that ever existed. Estab- 
lish a Christian reputation, and you will never 
have occasion to offer the excuse, " I did want to 
come so much, but company arrived just as I was 
about to get ready." — Christian News. 

Words of Counsel. 

Be loyal to your Church. Honor her appoint- 
ments. Love her heavenly ways. 

Be loyal to your rector. Cooperate with him 
fully as he endeavors to carry out the Prayer-book 
system. If he appoints a week-day service, show 
him by your presence that you appreciate his 
efforts on your behalf. If he plans to celebrate 
the Holy Communion on Sundays and holy days 
as the Prayer-book prescribes, honor him for his 
fidelity, and show, by being present, that you ap- 
preciate his faithfulness. Whatsoever he does in 
thus following the Prayer-book you may be sure 
he has you in mind and desires that you shall 
have full opportunity to receive the Church's 
blessings. 

Above all, be not selfish in the enjoyment of your 
privileges. Aim to make known your Church and 



70 THE PARISH — ITS LIFE AND WORK. 

her ways among your friends. Tell them of her 
admirable methods, her sweet Communions, her 
helpful worship. Invite them to accompany you 
to church, not only on Sundays, but also on holy 
days and week-days. Explain what to them is 
unknown. Encourage them to read Church liter- 
ature, and make them to understand that there is 
a great deal more in the Church than they com- 
monly supposed. In the end they will thank you 
and enter into your joy. — Diocese of Arkansas. 



CHAPTER VI. 



CHRISTIAN GIVING. 



Very few people do what they can in the 
matter of giving money to God and His Church. 
" Except your righteousness exceed the righteous- 
ness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no 
case enter the kingdom of heaven." The scribes 
and Pharisees gave one tenth of their income. 
Too many Christians, whose income is from ten 
to twenty dollars a week, give only ten or twenty- 
five cents a week to God. The Lord's Prayer 
was meant for those who were consecra'ed to 
God. " Give us this day our daily bread " sounds 
strangely on the lips of him who has enough money 
laid up for many years' daily bread. Giving to 
God is no loss. It never has been a loss ; what 
one keeps he loses, what he gives away he has. 
Liberal giving develops faith in God's Providence. 
Covetousness is idolatry and starves the soul." — 
TJie Platte Missionary . 

7i 



I 2 



CHRISTIAN GIVING. 



Paying Nothing. 

As a rule, those who pay nothing toward church 
work have no interest in it. We do not mean 
that they pay nothing because they care nothing. 
The converse is true also. They care nothing be- 
cause they pay nothing. One way to get people 
interested in the congregation's affairs is to get 
them to contribute. It secures their interest. 
What costs them something concerns them, if it 
were only because it cost them something. The 
same is true also of institutions, missions, etc. 
Those who contribute nothing are not likely to in- 
quire about them and read about them and talk 
about them. The consciousness that these are 
our institutions, and that the work done is our 
work, is awakened adequately only when they have 
cost us something. And when we recognize them 
as ours, and learn to rejoice in the prosperity of 
our work, we give more freely and more liberally 
and more cheerfully. — Gospel Messenger. 

The Offertory 

is an important part of worship. It is not an 
impertinence, but stands in the line of duties, 
alongside of prayer and singing. To give money 
each time you go to church and in the appointed 
way, will bring blessings from God. You ought 



CHRISTIAN GIVING. 



73 



to teach your children to give regularly. Pew 
rent is not " giving " in this sense, any more than 
paying the butter bill or for a seat at the opera- 
house. We refer to the offering to God for relig- 
ious or charitable purposes, regularly through the 
offertory in church. So your alms shall go up 
with your prayers as a memorial before God. — 
Cathedral Chimes, Omaha. 

Parish Support. 

Every communicant ought to help support the 
parish. There are necessary expenses, and the 
money for these expenses must be raised and paid 
by some one. It is not fair that a few should 
virtually pay all the bills. And it is not good for 
any one to have any one else pay his expenses 
unless it is absolutely necessary. Therefore let the 
people of the parish, according to ability, contrib- 
ute toward its support. — Cathedral Chimes. 

Wanted — A Higher Devotion. 

When I witness how much is spent in the 
social world upon dress and jewels, and furniture 
and bric-a-brac, upon entertainments and equi- 
pages, upon art and music — because women are 
intensely interested in these things — I cannot help 
thinking that if a like intensity of interest could 
be excited in the work of enlarging Christ's king- 



74 



CHRISTIAN GIVING. 



dom and of saving souls, if Christian women could 
learn to estimate the value of a soul and to prize 
an introduction to the Court of the Heavenly 
King, if they had a faith that possessed them, if 
they had a strong affection for a personal Saviour 
aroused in their hearts, I cannot help thinking 
what a mint of money would be at the disposal of 
the board. We want a different tone of Christian 
society, and whatever change takes place in that 
tone must depend on the women of society. We 
want a higher devotion among the women of the 
Church who are nominal Christians, and, if it is 
to come, it is my conviction that it must come 
through the prayers and efforts and example and 
influence of the godly women of the Church, who 
are full of the Spirit of Christ. — Dr. Vibbert. 



The wealth of church-members in the United 
States, as given in the census of 1880, was nine 
billions of dollars. Their contributions annually 
for missions was an average of one-sixteenth of a 
cent for every dollar, or one dollar in every 1586. 
— Christian at Work. 



A gentleman who is being greatly prospered 
said lately : "I used to give as I felt inclined ; now 
I intend to give of that which God blesses. I 
have bank stocks, railroad stocks, United States 



CHRISTIAN GIVING. 



75 



bonds, etc. These draw interest seven days in 
the week. But the first day of the week is the 
Lord's day, and all that pertains to it belongs to 
Him. So one-seventh of my income from invest- 
ments is saved to the Lord. Then I manage to 
secure an income during the six days of the week, 
and from this also I will give to religious pur- 
poses." — The Parish Times. 



A boy, hearing his father pray for the mission- 
ary cause, especially for the wants of the mission- 
aries, and that their institutions might be supplied 
with abundant means, said to him, " Father, I wish 
I had your money." 

" Why, my son, what would you do with it ? " 
asked the father. 

The boy replied, " I would answer your prayers." 
— The Gospel Messenger. 

Making Your Will. 

In the visitation office for the sick in the Prayer- 
book occurs a rubric which the Church has placed 
there for the guidance of the priests and laity, 
that seems often forgotten. We recall it here as 
a matter of great importance. ''And if the sick 
person hath not disposed of his goods, let him then 
be admonished to make his will. The minister shall 
not omit earnestly to move such sick persons as are 



76 



CHRISTIAN GIVING. 



of ability to be liberal to the poor" Every Christian 
man and woman should recognize his stewardship 
in the disposition of his worldly goods, and should 
remember the work of Christ's kingdom. — Church 
Worker, Indiana. 

Giving. 

Oh that men would accept the testimony of 
Christ touching the blessedness of giving! He 
who sacrifices most loves most ; and he who loves 
most is most blessed. Love and sacrifice are re- 
lated to each other like seed and fruit ; each pro- 
duces the other. The seed of sacrifice brings forth 
the fragrant fruit of love, and love always has in 
its heart the seeds of new sacrifice. 



We need to apprehend the beauty of giving. 
It is the highest of the fine arts. We ought to be 
enamored of it as of the most aesthetic production 
.of the artist, the sculptor, the architect, the musi- 
cian. Then giving will not need to be urged; 
there will be rather need of restraining the people 
from bringing, as Moses did. The man or woman 
who learns to give in the right spirit forgets all 
about the duty in the privilege, and the absence 
of life's necessities would bring no such distress 
as to be cut off from this luxury. — Tri?iity Parish 
Paper, Williamsport, Pa. 



BOOKLETS ON THE CHURCH. 



Why am I a Churchman ? By Thomas Underwood Dudley, 
D.D., Bishop of Kentucky. Reprinted from the North Amer- 
ican Review. Paper covers, 15 cents. 

"The distribution of tractates like this will do much toward re- 
moving- prejudices and in setting- forth in clear light the claims and 
position of the historic Church. Bishop Dudley has the art of put 
ling things, and compresses the n -cessary truths into small space, 
systematically arranged and easy to understand." — The Church 
News. 

"The Episcopal Church." Its Doctrine, its Ministry, its Disci- 
pline, its Worship and its Sacraments. By Rev. George 
Hodges, D.D., Dean of the Episcopal Theological School, 
Cambridge, Mass. i2mo, paper 25 cents ; cloth, 50 cents. 

" Excellent examples of what the broad-minded, thoughtful, and 
earnest clergy of the Episcopal Church are saying to the world just 
now. The humane element is large, the dogmatic not prominent." 

— The Christian Union. 

A Manual of Information Concerning the Episcopal Church. 

By Rev. George W. Shinn, D.D. i8mo, board covers, 25 
cents ; cloth, 50 cents. 

"The Church, in its lineage, sacred order, doctrine, discipline, 
and worship, is here most becomingly set forth to the understanding 
and advantage of those whose interest has been awakened by oc- 
casional attendance at its services, those who have been formerly 
opponents of the Church, and those who want to become intel- 
ligent Church-folk."— The Living Church. 

The Prayer=Book Reason Why. A Book of Questions and An- 
swers on the Doctrines, Usages, and History of the Church as 
suggested by the Liturgy. For Parochial and Sunday-School 
uses. By Rev. Nelson R. Boss, M.A. i6mo, paper covers, 
20 cents ; boards, 30 cents ; cloth 50 cents, net. 

Thirteen editions have already been sold of this little book. The 
design of the work is threefold : (i) To furnish concise and ready 
answers to the popular objections so commonly raised against the 
Church and her services by those not familiar with her ways : (2) 
To bring out clearly and^concisely some of the principles of historic 
Christianity which distinguish the Episcopal Church from all other 
religious bodies ; and (3) To convey, in the briefest space, informa- 
tion on the history, doctrines, and usages of the Church, which 
every layman, and especially every teacher, ought to have. 

THOMAS WHITTAKER, Publisher, 

2 & 3 BIBLE HOUSE, NEW YORK. 



